


No Deadline

by witch_lit



Series: Catch Me If I Fall [2]
Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mutants, Attempted Murder, F/F, Human Experimentation, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Minor Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood, Mutant Politics, Mutant Powers, Mutant Rights, Mutants, Necromancy, Past Violence, Police, Precognition, Private Investigators, Psychic Violence, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Teleportation, off screen child murder, reference to canon suicide, Перевод на русский | Translation in Russian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2018-08-18 09:41:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8157649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witch_lit/pseuds/witch_lit
Summary: Magnus has been getting on just fine--he's a private investigator, consults with the NYPD, and has discovered a handy secondary mutation. Despite all of this, he's bored. When Isabelle Lightwood comes crashing back into his life, armed with a shocking truth and looking for a brother who stepped out over a decade ago, will he find something to look forward to?Sequel to Satellite.Russian Translation: https://ficbook.net/readfic/5445579abandoned lol





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For all of you who opened this, not realizing it's a sequel, you might want to read the first installment. There are some refreshers on what happened in the previous book, but it's not necessarily self explanatory.
> 
> HEY! Sorry this took so long to start posting, I literally lost the plot three times. Anyway, special thanks to Georg_Prime for their comments on Satellite! They might not have liked the story, but their suggestions got me out of my slump!  
> Let me know if I missed any trigger warnings! It does happen and I do want to fix it when I let them slip.

“You know, Isabelle and Clary wanted to meet up,” Helen says, her voice neutral. They’re in the bullpen of the nearest police precinct, filling out the paperwork for the mutant that they helped the authorities track down. Consulting work always requires so much tedious paperwork, though some of the police officers are nice enough eye candy to make up for it.

“That’d be fun,” Magnus says, smiling. He hasn’t seen either of the women or their son in a couple of years, and they’re in New York for the summer. His relationship with Isabelle has been distant since he broke up with Alec shortly before she disowned him, but it’ll be good to see Clary and the little sprout again.

Helen hums. “I’ll text Clary and see if they want to come out tonight?”

It’ll be fun, Magnus knows. He nods to Helen, but his heart isn’t in it. His heart hasn’t been in much of anything lately, so much more closed off than he used to be. He feels like a spectator to his own life, even on adrenaline packed jobs.

“Good,” Helen says, fiddling with her phone. Magnus reads the message through her eyes, a product of a latent telepathic mutation, and contents himself to a night with the girls.

“Do you think they’ll be able to get away, the both of them? We never seemed to have a night free when we were running the Safe House.” Magnus clicks his pen, more interested in musings than paperwork. He and Helen ran the Fray Institute’s Safe House for at-risk mutants for a couple of years before opening up their PI firm, and it had been non-stop work. There were a lot of kids who needed a lot of help, between basic human needs and controlling their abilities.

“The Safe House has a lot more help now,” Helen says. “They’ve got Lily Chen as a counselor now, so they can probably take a night off every now and then.”

Magnus shrugs and gets back to his paperwork, forms he’s filled out before. His mind wanders, though, to when he and Isabelle were close. Back then, Simon was still alive, and Magnus’ relationship with Alec had been solid. He’d been so sure he was going to marry Alec, but then the strange looks had started. For a while, it had seemed if Alec was afraid of him, so careful, and the obvious secrets he was keeping broke them apart.

When Alec had refused to bring Isabelle’s fiancé and Magnus’s annoying little brother type figure back from the dead, something he’d done to both Magnus and Isabelle, it had been the last straw. Magnus had gotten into a huge fight with Alec, and had refused to talk to him until they could be honest with each other, but then Isabelle had screamed and disowned Alec at Simon’s funeral. A few days later all of Alec’s things were gone, and the man himself was nowhere to be found. It had been a disappointing end to an otherwise great relationship.

It had been a decade since Alec had waltzed out of Magnus’s life, and Magnus’s life had gone on. He’d come to New York to open the Safe House, and in the Big Apple his telepathy had first manifested. When a criminal ring had started kidnapping mutant kids and forcing them to fight to the death, Magnus and Helen, recently graduated from NYU, had tried to track down the group. They weren’t successful, but they’d become private investigators not long after and regular consultants with the NYPD.

Helen’s phone buzzes, and she opens it lazily with a flick of her fingers. It floats in front of Magnus, and through her eyes Magnus gets both a _yes_ from Clary and the firm belief that Helen needs to start wearing her glasses. Her eyes really are going, something Magnus has luckily avoided even with the handful of years he has on her.

“So where are we going?” Magnus asks. “I hear the Cucina has half price wine on Tuesdays.”

“I’ll suggest it,” Helen says. “And stop reading my mind. It’s irritating.”

“Your refusal to wear your glasses is irritating,” Magnus says.

 _Fuck off_ , Helen thinks with a huff but doesn’t say out loud. _And give your report to Raj when you’re done. I’m done filing this shit for you._

 

* * *

 

That night finds Magnus dressed up, not quite to the nines but definitely to the sevens or eights. He’s got brown highlights in his hair and a glimmer under his eyelids, a shimmery dark purple V-neck and one of his favorite pairs of boots on for moral support. He sometimes has trouble making sure his conversations with Isabelle aren’t stilted and don’t slide onto the topic of Alec, so he thinks he might need it.

The restaurant they ended up choosing is a pizza joint near the Safe House, a newer place that gets points when the server doesn’t look at Magnus’s cat-eye mutant marking or Helen’s sharpened ears with distaste. The artwork on the walls likely endeared Clary to the place, and when he and Helen finally spot the couple he realizes that little Simon is missing.

“Where’s the sprout?” Magnus asks, sliding into the corner seat.

“Well, hi, Magnus, Helen” Clary says, that quirked smile gracing her lips.

“Hey biscuit,” Magnus grins, glad to see her. There are crow’s feet in the corner of her eyes and a stripe of grey starting at her temple, but she’s just as beautiful as she’s always been.

“Simon’s with Lily at the Safe House,” Clary explains. “I thought it could just be the four of us.”

“Drinks, or because you need something from us?” Asks Helen, her tone much more amicable than her words. Good old Helen, occasionally the most tactless person Magnus has ever met.

Isabelle and Clary meet eyes, and Magnus is surprised to see that Isabelle looks exactly the way she did when Magnus first met her. She’s in her thirties, but she still looks hardly a day over eighteen, fresh faced and wrinkle free.

“We weren’t going to bring it up until after dinner,” Clary says, her voice just a bit higher. “We weren’t even sure…”

“It’s obvious now, though,” Isabelle snaps, tension written into the line of her shoulders.

“We can talk about it after dinner,” Helen assures, her palms raised. “So, how is the Safe House treating you?”

“It’s going to be a lot of work,” Clary says, her eyes sparkling. “But we’re looking forward to it. It’s good to get out of the Institute and help people in such acute need, y’know? It’s great to be back in the city, I can’t wait to show Simon around.”

“We can take him to all the best crime scenes,” Magnus promises, and then laughs as Helen elbows him in the side. Clary just laughs, though her wife seems uncharacteristically somber.

The conversation flows, stilting only a couple of times, but Magnus’s attention keeps shifting to Isabelle. Her youth is disturbing, and maybe it’s an illusion of hers, but Magnus feels a lot less bored than he has in the last couple of weeks. There’s a nagging in the back of his head, a _do I look like that too?_ that stems from people always assuming that Helen is the older and more experienced of them.

Isabelle sets her spoon down in the bowl of the finished brownie sundae some time later, her gaze heavy on Magnus. “You’re not aging either.”

Magnus almost jerks, her accusation so close to what he was thinking but so far from what he was actually expecting. He had hoped he’d imagined it. He sets his own spoon down in the bowl. “I hadn’t actually noticed until I saw you.”

Clary links her fingers with Isabelle’s, drawing her hand under the table. Helen looks from Isabelle’s face to Magnus’s, scrutinizing, before slouching a little in her seat, like she’s accepted Isabelle’s words to be true.

“This is going to be weird,” Helen states.

“Probably,” Magnus concedes. He feels a tingling in his body, a sort of anticipation that’s been foreign for a long time. He feels a sudden need, and irresistible desire to pursue this knowledge.

“I think,” Isabelle starts, and then stops herself. “I think we need to find Alec. He… He’s the common denominator between the two of us; if you had aged I would have figured it was just me.”

“And you thought to call us, of all the private investigators in New York?”

“We wanted to be sure it wasn’t just her,” Clary says. “People keep mistaking Iz for a student. We thought…”

“We thought you might want to know too,” Isabelle says. “Where he’s been all of these years. No one has heard from him in thirteen years.”

“Are you ready to forgive him?” Magnus asks genuinely. He’s not sure if he’s ready to forgive Alec for leaving in the middle of one of the biggest fights they’ve ever had, though he’s a lot less angry now and a lot more resigned. It’s Isabelle who lost her fiancé when Alec refused to bring him back, Clary her best friend. They’ve both got a lot more right to be angry with Alec.

“The things I said to him…” Isabelle looks down. “I shouldn’t have. He was there for me through everything else, and all I really want is to know why he would let Simon die. I’m still furious, occasionally, but it’s been so long. I want… I need to see my brother and figure out if this mess is because of him.”

Magnus nods, but his brain is still flipping through Isabelle’s conjecture. “You’re only, what, 33? Clary’s face is still pretty smooth, and I don’t think that’s enough evidence for you to form the theory that you’re not aging.”

Isabelle’s eyes flicker to Clary, and she bites her lip. A moment passes, where Isabelle mentally projects _drop it_ , to Magnus, but he refuses. He wants all of the variables before going into the situation, a luxury Alec did not provide him when he first showed up at the Fray Institute and became a part of Magnus’s life. Those secrets had cost him his life, even if he’d gotten it back.

“Okay, so.” Isabelle shifts in her seat, her eyes guilty under the group’s, and especially Clary’s, scrutiny. “I started suspecting something was up when I was shot in the back of –when I was shot during a mission with the Defenders six months ago.”

Clary stills, shock and concern painting her face. “What?”

“The shooter didn’t know how to aim,” Isabelle says carefully. “There’s nothing I could have done. I would have—I should have died. My brains should have been everywhere,” Clary inhales sharply, “but it was like nothing had happened. I lost a couple of seconds, minutes maybe, but I was fine. That was the first thing that Alec started to notice was wrong about Jonathan, and I…”

Helen leans forward to put her hand on Isabelle’s bicep across the table. “You’re not Jonathan. It might just be a side effect of Alec’s ability.”

Isabelle nods, but it’s the least composed Magnus has ever seen her outside of the week her fiancé Simon died. “So I started looking for anything else that might have changed. I stopped brushing it off when people mistook me for Simon’s older sister or a student, and I’m not aging. I convinced Clary to come with me to New York as an excuse to see you, and if nothing panned out, it’d still be a good experience.”

“ _Christ_ , Iz,” Clary whispers. Magnus would bet good money that she’s squeezing Isabelle’s hand white under the table.

“We’ll find Alec,” Magnus promises. “We’ll figure this out.”

Isabelle smiles at him simply, but there’s that sliver of iron in her frame. As exhausted as she is, she will not be knocked down. If she can process this, so can Magnus. Magnus can figure out what’s going on. He promises to help her learn what’s happening, and it it’s the first thing that’s really captured his attention in a long while, that’s only secondary.

 

* * *

 

“There’s nothing about Alec online, anywhere?” Magnus asks Helen, sitting on his desk in their office.

Helen shakes her head. “Nothing past a missing person’s report when he was twelve. Been a ghost ever since, though it’s not really a surprise. There’re a dozen years missing from Isabelle’s presence too, and she didn’t come back online until after Alec left. Besides, I think Isabelle knows how to facilitate a Google search, she wouldn’t have asked us if his address was attached to his Facebook or he was on the mutant registry.”

“And it’s too late to retrace his tracks from when he left the Fray Institute. We wouldn’t get anywhere, he was just at the Institute until he wasn’t.” Magnus huffs and throws himself down in his chair. “We’ve exhausted our other options?”

“All the quick ones,” Helen confirms. “I can initiate a deeper search, but it’ll take a lot longer. You should visit Raphael.”

“So he can make fun of me for being bad at my job? No thanks,” Magnus whines.

Helen rolls her eyes. “It’s not like we don’t compensate him. Get over yourself and go see your friend.”

“Helen,” Magnus says seriously. “He works as a fortune teller. I’ll look like a loon.”

“Heads up, you already do,” Helen jokes. At least, Magnus thinks she’s joking. She must be, he looks smoking. Red eye shadow is totally in. “And he works as a fortune teller for one of the most respected hotels in the city.”

“Is a hotel really respectable if they have an in-house fortune teller?” Magnus questions even as he checks the laces on his cute chunk heeled boots.

“If he’s a powerful mutant, then yeah,” Helen says. “Now fuck off.”

“Yes ma’am,” Magnus says and salutes to her as he ducks out the door, stopping for coffee along the way.

The lobby of the Hotel du Mort is posh, all soft dark red carpet and teardrop jewel chandeliers. Magnus doesn’t look that out of place among all the glamor, the few people looking at him in distaste only noticing the cat eyes that mark him as a mutant. Some people obviously still have problems with the mutant rights laws, so Magnus throws up a mental shield to keep him out of their heads. He doesn’t much like being bombarded with hateful thoughts, thank you.

Magnus vaguely recognizes the concierge, who in turnn recognizes him on sight. “Mr. Bane, Mr. Santiago will be ready for you shortly. If you’d like to wait in the lobby, feel free.”

“Thanks,” Magnus says, walking past some artistic chairs to a purple cushioned couch. He gazes around, taking in the curved marble staircase and the reflective elevators tucked underneath before his eye catches on a magazine trough nest to the couch. It has craft boating ‘zines, but also gossip rags and the day’s newspaper.

Magnus plucks a Star Magazine from the rack and leans back in his chair. He flips through the pictures of models, usually human or with small or invisible mutations when they deem it necessary for their public image to include them. There’s an article about being afraid to approach your mutant crush and being unable to connect because of ‘cultural and biological differences’, which is, well. _Dif_ , the most popular mutant mag, isn’t stocked by the hotel, but they’ve got a more conservative mutant ‘zine, _Seelie._ It’s a far cry from the outright hostility from thirty years ago, though it’s still not very satisfying to read as a mutant.

“Mr. Bane, Mr. Santiago is ready for you,” the concierge, with his circle hat, informs Magnus. “Second floor, room 211.”

“You know I’m not here for a reading, right?” Magnus grins, but the concierge just gives him a bored look. Spoilsport.

Magnus feels sort of fancy as he walks up the marble steps, though he’s been to Raphael for leads before. They call him the Seer here, or whatever, a name Magnus knows irritates Raphael when he’s not using his ability.

Raphael’s room is all fake mystic stuff, transparent curtains, beads, about a thousand candles and a crystal ball. The fan’s on, and Raphael’s sitting with his arms crossed at a circle table in a fancy patterned suit jacket. Magnus and Raphael share a love for jackets, and it’s always a treat to see what Raphael is dressed in.

“Hey, _Seer_ ,” Magnus greets.

“You know not to call me that, Magnus,” Raphael says, his eyebrow twitching. His expression softens some when Magnus places a To Go coffee cup in front of him, a look Magnus used to see at the Fray Institute when he figured out how to more efficiently make a dish. He’s come a long way from Head Cook, Magnus supposes, a fancy fortuneteller with a 401(k) and everything. Hell, he probably has dental.

“How have you been?” Magnus asks, sitting down across the table from his friend.

“I’ve been good.” Raphael raises an eyebrow. “But that’s not why you’re here.”

“No,” Magnus agrees. “I need to find Alec.”

“I knew this day would come,” Raphael says. “You’re better off without him.”

“It’s for Isabelle.”

“You want to find him, too,” Raphael says. “Just don’t expect to find him as that kid you fell in love with.”

“I won’t,” Magnus promises. Raphael gives him a look that says he doesn’t believe him, but it doesn’t matter, because a moment later his eyes have turned white and he’s speaking with more of a rasp.

“ _I warned you he would be stolen,_ ” Raphael, the Seer, says, leaning forward. _“If you want to find what has been taken, go to Hudson Street. Look for the man named Raj, he will help you.”_

“You’ve warned me before?” Magnus asks.

 _“You were stumbling back to the school_ ,” the Seer whispers. _“Before secrets were revealed.”_

Magnus can fuzzily recall running into Raphael on the way to his bedroom after his first date with Alec. He’d thought it was the Alliance, Alec’s old school, come to claim him again. He’d figured Alec would be safe, and from that threat, he had been. He had no idea there was something else out there that Alec needed protecting from. There wasn’t… was there?

A sense of foreboding washes over Magnus.

Raphael writes down the name and address on a scrap of paper. _“He will be scarred, you will need to help him._ ”

“Did… Did Alec leave the Fray Institute of his own free will?” Magnus asks slowly, and he realizes he’s terrified to find out the answer. He doesn’t get to, as a moment later, Raphael’s eyes change back to their usual dark brown.

Raphael clears his throat and takes a sip of the coffee Magnus brought him. He hands Magnus the scrap of paper. “Did you get what you wanted?”

“I got a lead and more questions than I came with,” Magnus says. His insides feel like ice.

“That’s how it usually goes,” Raphael shrugs. He rarely remembers what he tells people about the future, the only glimpses he catches are from dreams and rarely as focused as the Seer’s persona.

“Yeah, I… I’ve got to go.” Magnus gets up from his chair.

“Good luck with your boy,” Raphael says. “And don’t be an idiot and get yourself hurt.”

“Oh, you know me,” Magnus says, but his heart isn’t quite in it.

“Unfortunately.”

Magnus leaves Raphael with his coffee, clutching the address and name in his hand. He’s scared of what he’s going to find when he goes to the address. The Seer seemed convinced that Alec was stolen, or taken, which doesn’t usually imply it was the person’s choice.

Magnus thinks back to Alec leaving. The fight with Magnus, the blowout with Isabelle. Alec going for a walk around the grounds and no one ever seeing him or hearing from him again. All of his possessions gone. A kidnapper wouldn’t have taken all of his things, would they?

 _You could make someone disappear like that_ , a voice in the back of his head supplies. Clary could, too, if she wanted to. She could easily kidnap the person with her teleportation and grab all of their stuff on other trips. Hell, Isabelle with her ability of illusion… Magnus doesn’t want to think about it, but even among those at the Fray Institute, they’re not lacking for suspects.

Magnus doesn’t want to think that Alec was kidnapped, because it has been 13 years and the Seer implied that Alec might be in trouble. Raphael gave Magnus an address and a name and the sinking fear that what he thought about Alec for the past decade is built on incorrect information.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for Alec continues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Reference to canon suicide (i.e., Magnus's ma) and attempted murder (i.e., Magnus' dad), themes of violence associated with careers in the criminal justice field, and mentions of experimentation on children.

Magnus gets to the address Raphael gave him just past four, after regrouping and calling Helen. His body still feels like a livewire, and he needs to calm down to be effective at his job. He’s glad to be on the case, but maybe he shouldn’t have taken it. It’s very personal. His first cases were just as personal, though, and he and Helen managed to eliminate a group that was kidnapping mutants and forcing them to fight to the death.

The apartment building is only a couple of stories tall and made of red brick. The trees around the building, lush and green, tickle at Magnus’s allergies, and it looks like an alright neighborhood overall. Nothing ritzy, but it’s nice. It’s not too strange for New York City.

Magnus isn’t sure if anyone will even be home, at such a common work time, but he rings buzzer for 3B anyway. He waits a couple of moments before there’s a static noise over the intercom.

“ _Who’s this?_ ”

“Magnus Bane, Private Investigator. Is this Raj Menon?”

_“Yeah, Magnus, hi. I finished at the police station hours ago, if you needed anything.”_

“I’d like to come up and talk to you about a case I’m working on,” Magnus says. And, great. If this guy’s a police officer, the chances of him clamming up if Magnus doesn’t explain the situation just shot up.

The door buzzes, and while Magnus is disheartened to see that there’s no elevator, he can walk up three flights of stairs without dying. It doesn’t mean that he likes it, because he doesn’t, but he’s only a little bit winded when he gets up to the third floor.

A dark skinned man in a white t-shirt is standing at the door of 3B, and Magnus recognizes him from the police precinct he and Helen frequent. Raj nods his head slightly to inviting Magnus in.

“Coffee?” Raj asks, pouring Magnus a cup when he nods. The dishes in his cupboard are evenly stacked, and his apartment is neat. He might have been military before being a cop, Magnus muses. That, or he has an appreciation for cleanliness that Magnus certainly doesn’t share.

“So, what can I do for you?” Raj asks once they’re settled in the small kitchen.

Magnus pulls a photo out of his pocket and hands it to Raj. “I was wondering if you’ve seen this man?”

Raj blinks at the picture, and then squints his eyes. “Is that Alec? In a _school uniform?_ I knew he went to private school, but this is surreal.”

Magnus nearly falls out of his chair in surprise. It was what he came for, but he still hadn’t… “You know him?”

“I mean, he looks a little bit younger there, but that’s definitely Alec Lightwood.” Raj says. “Is he in trouble?”

“No,” Magnus says, nearly short of breath. “I was hired to find him by his sister. Do you know where he is?”

“Isabelle? Alec told me he was estranged from his family,” Raj’s voice is a little sharper, a little less forgiving than it had been seconds ago.

“What’s your relationship with him, anyway?” Magnus asks, his eyes narrowed.

“Whoa, whoa. It’s purely platonic. I go and get drinks with him and Lydia on trivia night every Thursday, and sometimes he sleeps over after. He still wears a ring around his neck, stop looking at me like that,” Raj says.

Alec still wears the engagement ring that Magnus gave him? Alec left, he shouldn’t still be holding on to something like that. He should have dropped the engagement ring like he dropped Magnus, and… Magnus takes a deep breath.

“So you know where he is?”

“He works at the Seelie building downtown,” Raj says, shifting his coffee cup from one hand to the other.

“Will you give me his phone number?” Magnus asks.

Raj pauses. “I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“I just want to connect him with his sister and ask him a few questions. Some things don’t quite add up,” Magnus says slowly.

“Are you going to Investigate Seelie?” Raj asks quietly, his eyes gleaming. “Because some of the things Alec lets slip… that company is bad news, but I’m not a detective. I can’t do anything, not yet, but the minute you give me something concrete I’ll take it to every person in the police precinct that can shut that company down.”

Magnus feels the reassurance of the heavy weight that settled over him at Raphael’s make itself known as he nods. His throat feels tight. “It’s a deal.”

* * *

Magnus has the phone in his hand, and the way he’s holding it might make one think it’s a hand grenade with the pin already pulled. He’s been afraid of the damn thing since Raj gave him Alec’s number yesterday.

Quit being such a baby, Helen doesn’t say, but it’s written on her face. It alternates with a sympathetic look, but Helen’s known him long enough to know that won’t get him to do anything. It’ll just end in Helen doing more work and being more frustrated.

“Look, the worst he can do is say he hates you,” Helen finally says. They’ve been sitting on the couches in their office for what feels like hours. “You just have to make sure it’s him before handing the number to Izzy.”

“You know that’s not how this is going to happen,” Magnus says.

“He left you, Magnus. I know it’s hard, but… it’s none of your business anymore.” Helen says.

“I broke up with him,” Magnus says. “Him leaving shouldn’t have hurt this much. I feel so... scared. And I don’t know why.”

“Maybe it’s because you don’t know what he’ll be like, and you’re afraid of that change. It’s been over a decade; he could be a whole new person,” Helen says softly.

“But what if he didn’t leave because he wanted to?” Magnus asks quietly. “Raphael says he was ‘stolen,’ which… I’m just so worried I let him down.”

“We don’t know that,” Helen says. “His bags were packed. You had broken up. Isabelle wasn’t exactly nice to him after he refused to bring Simon back from the dead, and that choice left us all with doubts about him. Doubts I had when he didn’t bring Aline back when she died after he killed Jonathan. Nobody knew how to trust him.”

“He was always so private about his ability,” Magnus agrees. “I just…”

“You’re going to call him, right now,” Helen says firmly. “You just have to let him know that Isabelle’s looking for him, see how he reacts. Maybe ask if he wants to catch up sometime, after you reconnect him with his sister.”

“Yeah,” Magnus sucks in a breath and dials before he can stop himself, hitting the call button. “I’ve got this.”

Magnus’s nerves sit at cliff’s edge as the phone rings. The space between each ring seems to stretch, an ocean of uncertainty spreading between each interrupting ring. Magnus’s stomach becomes more knotted as he waits. He doesn’t think he breathes until a female voice announces that ‘the number he has reached is currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep or call again later.’

Magnus hangs up before the beep to leave a message sounds. “Nothing.”

Helen’s already off the couch, purse in hand. “Come on,” she says. “You have his work address, right?”

“We can’t go there!” Magnus protests.

“Why not?” Helen tilts her head. “It’s not like you’re going to be able to focus on any of our other cases until after this is over.”

“What? I could totally do other work…” Magnus mumbles, but he’s standing up as well. He’s curious, and if Helen won’t back down…

It’s all Helen’s fault, Magnus concludes as he follows Helen out of the office, locking up after them. He googles how to get to Alec’s work while they walk to the nearest subway station. Helen chats next to him. She knows better than to expect more than distracted answers, but he loves it when she just talks. When he’s like this, it’s nice to know there’s someone nearby. He’s not alone in this.

They emerge from the underground into a plethora of skyscrapers. It’s a few blocks of walking, but eventually they spot the Seelie building. It’s shaped a little like a curved obelisk, the glass shimmering in the design of folded wings. It’s a beautiful building, a rarity among some of the more modern designs, with what looks like a homey café on half of the first floor.

Magnus and Helen pause. The sidewalk isn’t busy enough for them to really bother other pedestrians, not at this far after midday and so early before the workday is over. Nevertheless, people walk past them as they gaze up at the building, Magnus building himself up. He can do this. Alec rejected him, but he rejected Alec first ( _it’s nothing like your parents_ , an inner voice chides, because he can’t help but compare every rejection to his mother killing herself in disgrace of him and his father trying to kill him afterwards in anger).

Fortifying himself, Magnus takes a step forward. His foot hasn’t even hit the gum-speckled cement when I Got A Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas erupts from Magnus’s pocket.

Magnus pauses, digging into his pants for his phone. He accepts the phone call and then presses the device to his ear.

“Raphael?” Magnus asks.

“Magnus, you need to leave,” Raphael hisses over the phone. Magnus can hear someone yelling on the other end of the line, likely an upset customer. “If you go into that building right now you’ll leave in a body bag. Wait for Alec to come out, but don’t approach him until you’re at least a block away.”

The line goes dead. Magnus feels like he’s been soaked in ice water. What has Alec gotten himself into?

“Helen, we need to stop. We’ll wait for him.”

“What? Why?” Helen asks, her eyebrows scrunched together. “Don’t tell me you’re backing out.”

“Raphael says we really shouldn’t go inside the building,” Magnus says. “We’ll wait for him to leave instead.”

“We don’t even know if he’s on shift,” Helen says. “We don’t even know what he _does_ here.”

“Raphael seems to think we should wait for him to leave,” Magnus says. “Helen, he thinks we’ll die if we go in there.”

Helen’s face, already quite fair, turns a color not dissimilar to bleached printer paper. “Just what is this company?”

“I don’t know,” Magnus says. “But I think we should sit across the street at that coffee shop and do some research while we wait for Alec to be done with work.”

Helen nods, and they set up shop. Magnus splits his attention between watching Seelie’s front door and reading Helen’s mind to glean more information about the company. Seemingly well-adjusted individuals mill in and out of the building, security guards and auditors and deliverymen. It seems just like any other company. They wait, because eventually, something has got to give.

* * *

The sun is setting, the city bathed in pink and purple as night falls. The café Helen and Magnus are camped at will be closed soon, and it’s been hours. Maybe Alec isn’t even at work today, and they’ve been wasting time.

“Magnus!” Helen whispers, elbowing him in the side. Magnus looks into her mind and sees where she’s looking, his own head turning to track the dark head of hair.

Magnus and Helen book it out of the shop, following the figure as he turns the corner. Dark hair only fifteen paces in front of them, Magnus peeks into Helen’s mind and reviews what she saw. High cheekbones, dark eyes and unmistakable lips. Fuck. A dark button up and a silver necklace glimmer in the escaping sun.

Magnus stretches out his mind, skimming the thoughts of the people on the street. His mind glances off of Alec’s, unable to focus. Frustrated, he lifts a hand to his temple, intensifying his focus.

Alec stops walking, the person behind him knocking into him. His head swivels, and Magnus can feel nothing more than uncertain curiosity from his brain. When his gaze locks with Magnus’s, though, Alec’s mind is consumed by relief.

“Alec!” Helen says, speed walking towards him.

Magnus stays where he is, eyes locked with Alec. Alec’s face, as expressive as ever, morphs from relief to fear. His eyes slide to the corner, around which is the Seelie building, and he turns away from Magnus. He starts to run but stops, and Magnus can tell from his rising panic and Helen’s outstretched arm that it’s not intentional on his part.

Helen moves Alec to the side of the sidewalk, the people on the passing by giving the three of them strange looks.

“ _Please,”_ Alec says, his voice desperate as they get closer to him. “You _can’t_ be here! If they see…”

“Alec,” Helen says softly. “Who’ll see?”

Alec’s eyes shift behind them before landing on Helen. His voice is nearly devoid of anything when he speaks, but it cracks at the last moment. “Helen, you let me go or I will murder the two of you where you stand.”

“Whatever it is, we can help you,” Helen presses. She doesn’t think much of Alec’s threat, and Magnus can see that Alec doesn’t think much of it either.

“You can’t.”

For a brief moment, Alec’s eyes meet Magnus’s, apologetic. Magnus feels a surge run from the center of his skull down his body. Black appears around the edges of his vision, and the ground rises to meet him. He wakes up an hour later in a local emergency room, the mutant ward, with not a thing wrong with him. Helen is at his side.

“I think we need to enlist help,” Helen says once they’ve got him checked out.

“He was so scared,” Magnus says, but his limbs ache in a way that makes it feel like he’s wading through molasses. “ Relieved, but scared. I need to see Alec again—to—to make sure he’s okay. It didn’t seem like it.”

“You will,” Helen says. “But he knocked you down like nothing I’ve ever seen, Magnus. You’re going to bed. Tomorrow we’ll go to the Safe House and talk to Clary and Isabelle about what happened.”

“Tomorrow,” Magnus says as Helen slides him under his silk red sheets. She pushes his hair back from his forehead, a small smile on her face. “Thanks Helen.”

“You’re welcome, you goof,” Helen says affectionately. “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t know you’d do the same for me.”

“That’s a good policy,” Magnus says. “But I don’t know if I could do it like that.”

“I’m not asking you to,” Helen says. “Now sleep.”

Magnus goes out like a light. Sometimes, Magnus would swear Helen has the power of persuasion.

* * *

 

The day after Magnus and Helen stalked out Seelie for Alec, and Magnus is fully recovered from whatever the fuck Alec pulled on him, they’re on their way to visit a different Lightwood and her wife. Or, well. Former Lightwood. She’s a Fray now.

“I can’t believe we’re going back to the Safe House,” Helen says as they walk from the bus stop.

“We come back,” Magnus argues, pushing his sunglasses up on his nose.

“Yeah, rarely,” Helen says. “Not since the Demonic Murder case.”

“It’s still unsolved,” Magnus says softly. “They don’t know who was taking those mutants kids and sucking the literal life out of them.”

“I know,” Helen says. “I wish they would find the bastard. At least there haven’t been any more bodies in the last few years.”

“Still,” Magnus says. The Demonic Murders had actually spurred Helen and Magnus to become private investigators. Helen had just finished her bachelors at New York University, and when kids started showing up dead, especially kids they’d seen while working at the Safe House, they’d gotten involved. They’d helped the NYPD to the best of their ability, even followed a few leads of their own, but after months, there’d been… nothing. They took on other cases, helped the NYPD with mutant-sensitive issues, and from it, their PI service had grown into a well-respected monster.

“Well, we’re here,” Helen says, like Magnus doesn’t know. Not just from the four stories of laid brick, but from the teens lurking on the sidewalk, talking in clusters or holding cigarettes in the alley as they exchange laughs. Some of them have visible mutations like Helen’s ears and Magnus’s eyes while others look as human-typical as Alec or Isabelle.

Magnus doesn’t recognize any of these kids. It really has been too long since he’s been back.

They walk into the building, getting sideways glances from the teens milling about. The glances aren’t hostile; both Magnus and Helen have visible mutations. A lot of these kids don’t trust humans, and often rightfully so.

Before Magnus knows it, they’re through the double-doored entry and pulling Isabelle away from where she’s chatting with a kid who can’t be older than thirteen.

Isabelle leads them to her office, which is even more cluttered than the space that Magnus and Helen usually share, but still has most of the furniture from back when Magnus opened the place.

“Did you find him?” Isabelle asks, her face eager. “What did he say?”

“We found him,” Helen starts. “But…”

“He still looked like a teenager, like we do,” Magnus says. “But he didn’t want anything to do with us. He ran away, even knocked me out. He seemed to think that someone is watching him.”

Isabelle is silent for a moment. “Do you think he’s right?”

“I don’t know,” Magnus says. “But I’d believe it. He works for a company, Seelie tech, and his friend says it’s shifty. Like, he’d launch an investigation if he had that kind of pull shifty.”

Isabelle’s face is white. “Did you say Seelie tech?”

“…Yeah?”

Isabelle lifts her hand, and in her palm appears the logo of a fairy skating on air. “This Seelie tech?”

“That’s the one,” Helen confirms. “You’re familiar?”

“Yeah, I’m _familiar_ ,” Isabelle seethes. “Alec and Jonathan used to go to Seelie tech and save kids they were experimenting on. Mutants. About a fifth of the kids at Morning Star we took from Seelie. Bring them back to Morgenstern. _Fuck,_ they have him?”

“They _what?_ ” Helen asks.

At the same time, Magnus exclaims: “And you never thought to _tell_ us?” Alec had kept so many secrets about his crazy ex-boyfriend, and Magnus had long been sick of them slowly being revealed. It was far too tiresome.

Isabelle takes a deep breath. “I think we just assumed they stopped after Jonathan massacred most of their staff. I mean… We definitely should have looked into it, but I haven’t thought about it in years. In the exchanging power, after Alec killed Jonathan, it must have slipped through the cracks. I… fuck.”

“Isabelle, what does this mean?” Helen asks, but Magnus thinks he knows.

“It means that Alec probably didn’t leave the Fray Institute of his own will,” Magnus says slowly.

Helen pales considerably.

“We’re going to kidnap my brother.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus is finally catching up

They don’t exactly kidnap Alec, despite promising it. Instead, Magnus and Helen take turns following him around the city to learn his routines.

A travel mug of coffee accompanies Alec in the morning as he takes two subways from his flat to the looming Seelie building. He works most of the day, and never seems to leave for lunch. He leaves work 8 hours later looking exhausted.

Magnus wonders what Alec could be doing in that huge building. He has no idea what Alec would be doing for the company. Could he be working security? Magnus rather doubts it, considering Alec’s ability used to be all or nothing.

Tucking his curiosity away, Magnus follows Alec home from work. The subway, stick with humidity, is always crowded enough that Alec doesn’t seem to notice him. Magnus wonders if Alec can sense him, but he quickly gives up that line of thought. Alec looks over his shoulder the first couple of days after Magnus and Helen went after him, but eventually he gives up.

He reads on the subway like any other passenger, divorced from the mystery he’s given Magnus.

Magnus can’t help but be hooked on the drama of it all. He’s worried for Alec, and upset that he never thought to look for Alec after all these years, but it’s something new. Just like when Alec and his sister came crashing into the Fray Institute all those years ago, Magnus is entranced by Alec Lightwood.

The week passes with little fanfare. There’s tension in Isabelle, but Magnus hardly notices, entrenched in following Alec. He needs to approach Alec to talk to him, but he’s worried about what will happen if he does. He finally gets his opportunity when Alec deviates from his daily script.

Thursday evening finds Alec slipping out of his apartment hardly a half-hour after he’s gotten home. Helen’s already left for the day so Magnus is glad for the interruption of the monotonous schedule. He hurries after Alec.

Alec leads the way to a homey restaurant about 15 blocks away. The walls are greens and blue, colorful fresh flowers dotting tables and families cushioned in maroon booths. Alec checks his phone and then makes his way towards the back of the restaurant.

When Magnus follows Alec he’s a little surprised to see Raj and a blond woman at a high top table. They smile at him, and he flows seamlessly into their conversation after greetings are exchanged. It seems like a nice group, and Magnus can remember Raj saying something about Thursday night meet-ups. Magnus might not have a better opportunity to insinuate himself into Alec’s space without Alec making a scene again.

“Raj, is that you?” Magnus asks loudly, putting on his best grin.

“Magnus?” Raj asks. Maybe Magnus hasn’t interacted with Raj enough for this, but hell. It’ll be fine.

“Magnus?” Alec repeats, eyes widening and body stiffening.

“Hey,” Magnus says. “Alec, Raj. It’s good to see you two.”

Raj glances at Alec. “What are you doing here, Magnus?”

“Oh, you know,” Magnus says, racking his brain. His eyes catch on a poster attached to the wall. “I thought I’d give it a go at trivia. I used to be a history teacher, you know.”

“Then you have to join us,” says the blonde, leaning forward with a smile. “I’m Lydia.”

“I’m Magnus,” Magnus says.

“I gathered,” says Lydia, a sparkle in her eyes. “So how do you know my boys?”

“I’ve worked with Raj at the precinct, and I’ve known Alec for ages,” Magnus says, patting Alec’s stiff shoulder as he pulls out a chair. Raj’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t say anything.

“Yeah? You have any good Lightwood stories?”

“Do I ever,” Magnus proclaims. “But perhaps I should dole them out in small quantities. I wouldn’t want Alec to try and kick me out of the group.”

Lydia waves a hand, and as Alec starts to speak, he’s interrupted.

“Hello folks, this is Thursday night trivia! I’m Ruby, and this is Amanda. We’re going to be your hosts this evening. Two rules: one, no using your phone to look up answers! That’s cheating. Two…”

Alec’s eyes are on Magnus as the announcers continue. His eyes burn into Magnus, his mouth set into a frown.

“I need to talk to Magnus,” Alec says, standing up. He grabs Magnus’s wrist, pulling him out of his chair.

“Be back before the round starts, you two!” Lydia calls, eyes gleaming.

Alec leads Magnus to the bathroom. He lets go of Magnus’s hand, pacing the short length of the room.

“What are you doing here?” Alec asks, his voice just a touch too high. “You _can’t_ be here, Mags.”

Magnus puts his hands in the air, trying to seem nonthreatening. “Look, Alec, I’m worried. When you disappeared, I thought… Hell, I thought you’d had enough. Now I’ve been digging through all this shit for Isabelle to find you and find you working at Seelie Technology Inc.”

“I can’t be seen with you,” Alec says hurriedly. “I can’t _know_ you were with me.”

“What does that mean?” Magnus asks gently.

“It means that you need to get away from me, Magnus, or we’ll both get hurt. They’ll know if I’ve seen you, or—or Isabelle, and it won’t be good.”

“How will they know?” Magnus asks.

The answer flashes in Alec’s mind, a strong word with a heavy tone of fear attached. _Telepath_.

“I can help,” says Magnus in a voice that used to calm Alec down when he was upset.

“No you can’t,” Alec says miserably.

“Yes, I can,” Magnus says and pulls Alec to him. Alec allows himself to be pulled into the embrace, and his body shudders, but he does not return the hug.

“How could you possibly help?”

“I’m a telepath,” Magnus says, his cheek digging into Alec’s silver nacklace.

Alec scoffs. “No, you’ve got a diamond form. I remember _that_.”

“I developed it after coming back to New York. There’s so many people here, I think it woke up my ability,” Magnus says softly Alec’s neck.

“You…” Alec trails off. He seems to relax, if only for a moment.

They stand there, listening as the hosts announce a muffled trivia question.

“The cosmic egg is the Big Bang,” Magnus whispers.

Alec snorts. “Only you would know that obscure history reference.”

They stand in silence for a moment. It’s strange, because Magnus has sort of missed this. He doesn’t have all the information he needs. He doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into. With Alexander Lightwood, the unknown has always been dangerous.

“We’d better go and tell Raj and Lydia the answer,” Magnus says, but doesn’t pull away.

“We’d better,” Alec echoes. He steps out from Magnus’s arms. “Will you be able to hide this memory at the end of the night?”

“Yes,” Magnus assumers him. “But I could also take you away at the end of the night.”

Alec looks sad. “No, Magnus. At the end of the night all this has to go back to how it was. It’s safer this way.”

“Safer for who?”

Alec shrugs and pulls away from Magnus. “We’d better get back.”

Alec leaves the bathroom, and Magnus trails after him, feeling a little turned over. Whatever Alec is doing at Seelie tech is either coerced or classified, if a telepath is going through his thoughts, and Magnus would bet on the former.

Their table greets them with cheer as they make their way back. Most of the answers for the first round are filled in on their paper when Magnus looks.

“The first one’s the Big Bang,” Alec says as he sits down.

“And they expect us to know that?” Raj complains.

“Magnus knew it,” Alec grins.

Raj looks Magnus up and down carefully. “Maybe you’ll have to come back to Trivia.”

Magnus smiles. “I would love that.”

A plot is hatching in his head to find out what’s happening to Alec. Magnus will get to the bottom of this Seelie business and get his questions about his and Isabelle’s halted aging answered. At the end of the night, Magnus hides Alec’s memory of the night in the corner of Alec’s mind, but Magnus does not forget.

 

* * *

 

Maybe Magnus spoke too soon, because they do end up kidnapping Alec.

Because Magnus hid Alec’s memories, they can’t risk that Alec will react violently if confronted in public. Instead, Isabelle, Helen and Magnus enlist Clary’s help. Clary’s teleportation has always been strong, so it’s no trouble for her to grab onto Alec’s shirt as he’s leaving the subway station and disappear.

The two pop into existence in the middle of Magnus and Helen’s office. Isabelle’s in the bathroom, but everyone else is by the couches in the office corner. Alec throws himself away from Clary, looking around half-wild.

Magnus catapults himself across the room toward Alec, his hand grasping the base of Alec’s skull. With a surge of metal energy, Alec slumps as his memories from trivia come back to him.

“Where are we?” Alec shoulders hunch, his hand on his neck. He walks towards the window, flicking open the blind.

“Our office,” Helen explains.

“No, _where_ are we? Am I still in Manhattan?”

“Yes,” Magnus assures him. Alec seems to relax a little, looking around the room curiously. His eyes sweep the paper-covered desks before locking on Clary. He doesn’t say anything, just becomes smaller.

“We know something’s wrong, Alec,” Helen says from Alec’s left.

Alec doesn’t react, doesn’t even look like he heard her. He probably didn’t, if the hearing in his left ear still hasn’t come back.

“I have some personal questions,” Magnus says, moving to Alec’s right side. “We’d also like to ask you about the company you work for.”

Alec’s jaw clenches. “It’s not a good path to go down, and you’ll have to hide my memories again.”

“Seelie isn’t a good company,” Helen says evenly.

“Alec can’t hear you.” Magnus turns to her. “You’re in his blind spot.”

Alec turns his head and looks almost surprised to see Helen at all. She moves closer to Magnus, looking almost sheepish.

“Sorry, Alec. I forgot.”

Alec just shrugs. “It’s my fault.”

A long time ago, Magnus would have protested. The events that unfolded at the Morning Star academy weren’t Alec’s fault, per se, but Alec definitely hadn’t been completely blameless. He’d created and loved a monster and it had grown out of control, a product of Alec’s unstable abilities. If he’d had more control of his abilities, more control over his creations, Aline wouldn’t have needed to use her Banshee powers as a distraction. Alec wouldn’t be partially deaf, and Aline wouldn’t have died.

It’s Clary, her will always razor sharp, that speaks. “That’s not what we’re here to talk about.”

“No,” Alec sighs. “I suppose not.”

The door behind Alec opens, and Isabelle steps out of the bathroom. She moves with hesitant footsteps and then takes a deep breath. She pulls her posture up, making herself as tall as she can, and walks up to her brother.

“Alec,” she says, tapping his shoulder.

Alec turns, and Magnus can’t see his face, so he doesn’t know exactly what expression Alec wears. Magnus can read traces of fear and relief from Alec’s surface thoughts.

“Hey, big brother,”

“Isabelle…” Alec breathes.

Isabelle hugs his quickly before pulling away. “This doesn’t mean I forgive you.”

“Of course not,” Alec says lightly. When he turns around, Magnus can see tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. “You guys are really here. You’re alive.”

“Healthy and whole,” Clary says sharply. “A little too whole. We have some questions for you.”

Alec flinches. “Right. I…”

Magnus taps Alec on the arm. Alec turns his head to hear. “Why don’t I make us some tea? We can sit on the couches and catch up.”

“That’s not—“ Clary starts, but Magnus silences her with a look.

“That’d be great,” Isabelle says. “Do you need any help with the prep?”

“I’ve just got to turn the kettle on,” Magnus says. “I’ll be fine.”

The kitchenette is attached to the main room, so it’s easy for Magnus to make his way over. He keeps his ears open as he fills the kettle and flicks it on. Frowning, his eyes lock on the Seelie logo on the bottom ring of the appliance.

After he pulls five mugs out of the cupboard Magnus leans against the counter. Alec is fidgeting at the far end of one of the couches, his deaf ear facing the wall. Isabelle is next to him, though still 2 feet away, with Clary next to her. Helen is in the loveseat next to the couch, her fingernails drumming on the arm.

The room is quiet except for the hum of the kettle and the city outside their windows. Magnus doesn’t blame them, because this is a difficult conversation. Do they focus on the age issue, or Seelie tech? Magnus isn’t sure.

Turning his body to diamond, Magnus loads the steaming mugs into his arms. He passes them out then pulls up a chair across from Alec, returning to his human form.

“We’ve got a few questions,” Magnus says softly, catching Alec’s eyes. It almost hurts how young Alec still looks.

“I understand,” Alec shudders. He doesn’t continue.

“We need to talk about what’s happening to Isabelle and I,” Magnus says. “But I think we also need to talk about Seelie.”

Alec nods, his jaw clenched. His hand fiddles with his collar. “Yes. We should…”

“Am I going to have to pry it out of you?” Magnus jokes.

Alec gives him a small smile. “No, sorry. I should have told you a long time ago about what my ability did to you.”

“You knew?” Isabelle asks sharply.

Alec doesn’t meet her eyes but nods. “Yes, I knew. I found out a while before I was taken. I thought… I thought I’d find a way to reverse it, or something. I didn’t. I haven’t.”

“We’re not dying, Alec,” Isabelle snaps. “We’re not aging. We’re not—anything.”

“And you won’t,” Alec says. He sighs, turning his mug in his hands. “My ability is a bit… I thought it was like glue, and I could attach your souls back to healed bodies and you would adjust naturally. But that’s not how it works.

“When Jonathan died, I had to undo every link of him to his body. I thought it was because of all the people he’d killed, but it wasn’t. It was because when I brought him to life I sutured his soul to that body. I stitched him together, and I had to destroy my own work. The deaths on his head didn’t help, of course, but they weren’t the biggest issue.”

“What does this mean for us?” Magnus asks.

Alec looks at Magnus for a long time. He rubs his hand against the back of his neck, and finally looks away. “It means that you can’t die.”

“We _what_?” Isabelle gasps.

“I’m sorry,” Alec says. “I didn’t know, I thought that I was just bringing you back.”

“You missed the mark on that one.” Magnus smiles, but his mind is reeling. Alexander Lightwood accidentally made him immortal.

“You guys can get hurt, same as anyone, but you can’t actually die,” Alec says. “I know I could kill you, and you might be able to kill each other, but that’s it.”

“That’s…” Isabelle starts.

“Insane,” Clary says.

“Unprecedented,” Helen says.

“Lonely,” Magnus adds.

“So I’m going to stay young, while the people around me grow old and die?” Isabelle asks. Alec flinches. “I’m going to stay looking like a teenager while my _son_ ages on without me? I’m going to have to watch him die?”

“I didn’t know you have a son,” Alec says quietly. “And I’m sorry. I really didn’t know.”

“That’s not good enough,” Isabelle says tightly. “You need to fix it.”

“I _can’t_ ,” Alec says. “I tried. I went to an ability reader. I visited a seer for clues. Short of killing you, I can’t lift the invulnerability. You healed to your body so closely that I can’t see the scar anymore.”

“So you could have, when this was fresh,” Isabelle says.

Alec runs his hand over his face. “I don’t know. Maybe. But I didn’t even know it was a problem until it was years too late. It’s not like my abilities came with an instructions manual.”

“You were acting so strangely before you left,” Magnus realizes. “For the months before Simon died, you avoided Isabelle and me. You were upset about something but wouldn’t talk to me about it. It’s why no one thought it was strange when you left.”

“I didn’t know what to do,” Alec says softly. “I thought you would leave me, and Isabelle… I just didn’t know anything except that I’d messed up.”

“You did what you thought was best,” Magnus says.

“No, you did mess up,” Isabelle snaps. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. That’s why you refused to bring Simon back, isn’t it? Because he’d be immortal and you knew no one would ever want that for themselves.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Alec says. “I didn’t…”

“Whatever,” Isabelle says, standing up. “Clary, let’s go.”

Clary doesn’t look ready to leave yet, but she grabs Isabelle’s arm. A moment later they’re gone.

Alec takes a stuttering breath and closes his eyes. “She still hates me.”

“She took it better than she could’ve,” Helen says. “She didn’t set an illusion on you. I think she needs to process, more than anything.”

“She’ll never forgive me for Simon,” Alec says, looking dejectedly into his tea.

“Maybe not,” Helen agrees. “But that part of her life is over. You should have brought him back, but you didn’t. You’re going to have to live with that.”

“I couldn’t have,” Alec says.

“So you said,” Magnus hums. “But why? You brought me and Isabelle back, why not Simon?”

“He could have turned out like Jonathan,” Alec says.

“He hadn’t been dead that long,” Helen says. “Isn’t that what your ability needs? A fresh body?”

Magnus nods.

“No,” Alec says, surprising them both. “I thought that when I was younger, but it’s not. It’s a checks and balances system. I can only give as much life as I’ve taken without it going the way Jonathan did.”

“Wait, so the only reason Isabelle and I are still ok is because you’ve killed two people?”

“Sebastian and Jonathan,” Alec says. “If I’d waited to kill Sebastian, Isabelle would have eventually degraded. I hadn’t killed enough people to support Simon, so one of you would have gone wrong.”

Magnus runs a hand across his face. “Why are we only now hearing about this?”

Alec’s jaw clenches. “Because I wanted to forget about this stupid ability. I wanted to teach Math at the Fray school and be as normal as I could be. Not some miracle worker. I didn’t want to ever have the potential to mess something up the way I messed Jonathan up.”

Magnus nods. He’d known Alec hadn’t wanted anything to do with their illegal escapades, and they often pushed him into it. He hadn’t realized it had become such a big thing.

Helen scoffs. “And where’s that gotten you?”

Alec’s face darkens. “Nowhere good.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get some more information

Magnus sighs and then knocks on the wooden door of the apartment above the Safe House. The lights are on, and he can hear the hum of mental energy from within the apartment, so he doesn’t doubt that all three inhabitants are present.

Clary answers the door, her red hair pulled up into a messy bun. Her eyes soften as they land on him, and she nods her head. “We weren’t sure if we should expect you.”

“I wanted to talk to Isabelle,” Magnus says.

“About Alec.”

“About Alec,” Magnus confirms. “But also about this whole immortality thing, and Seelie.”

Clary sighs. “I used to be so mad at Alec.”

“You’re not anymore?” Magnus asks as she lets him through the doorway.

“I don’t know what I am anymore, Magnus.” Clary closes the door. “I know I’m tired, and I want to figure this out with you and Isabelle and Seelie.”

“That’s fair,” Magnus says evenly. “I’m not sure how I feel about all this either.”

“But you’re sympathetic to Alec,” Clary says.

“Of course I’m sympathetic to Alec,” Magnus says. “I almost married him. If you’d stayed to listen to more of his story, you might be too.”

Clary shrugs. “Isabelle wanted to leave.”

“Be that as it may,” Magnus says. “Maybe you shouldn’t have.”

 

* * *

 

After sending their kid downstairs to play with the other mutants they have tea in that tiny apartment above the Safe House, one Magnus used to live in when he first set up the Safe House. He’d crammed Helen in there, when he lived here, because it wasn’t too far away from her classes and her scholarships had covered her tuition but not her on-campus living expenses.

Magnus tells them what Alec told him about Simon and his ability, and it’s like watching a glacier begin to melt. There’s still a lot of solid ice, but there are rivers of water escaping Isabelle’s grip on anger and grief.

“Why didn’t he just _tell_ me?” Isabelle asks. “I wouldn’t have been so hard on him…”

“You might have been,” Clary says softly. She’s not nearly as quick to wield her temper as she once was, and twice as understanding.

“It was too late, by the time he’d made up his mind,” Magnus explains. Alec had told him and Helen the whole story and given him permission to share it with Isabelle and Clary. “He was kidnapped by Seelie a week after Simon died.”

Isabelle and Clary both flinch.

“He didn’t run away?”

“No,” Magnus says, his jaw tense. “Seelie kidnapped him, from what I understand.”

“Why him?” Isabelle asks, and it’s a valid question. Alec had never been the most powerful mutant around, nor was he the most well known.

“He said something about them not wanting to mess too much with any large mutant organizations, fly under the radar. That sort of thing,” Magnus says. “But his ability allows him to act as life support, and that’s, apparently, something Seelie needed.”

The words make him feel sick, and he imagines it isn’t much better for Isabelle and Clary, whose faces are considerably paler.

“Life support?” Isabelle asks.

“Apparently, some Seelie apps and technologies are run using the abilities of live mutants,” Magnus says. When he found out, he’d tracked down every Seelie appliance he owned and trashed it. “They keep them sedated, but they can start to slip away. It’s Alec’s job to stop that.”

“They what?” Clary gasps, that horrified anger she does so well gracing her features.

“They use him to keep mutants alive during experiments, as well,” Magnus says, trying to get through the subject as quickly as possible to avoid the urge to be sick. “And he wants out, but he can’t do it himself.”

“How…” Isabelle trails off. She takes a deep breath but is still visibly upset. “This is too much.”

“I know,” Magnus says quietly. His nerves still haven’t settled, but he does his best to project calm into Isabelle and Clary’s churning minds.

“And he’s not done anything about it?” Isabelle chokes out.

“Apparently he can’t, not alone,” Magnus says, remembering the despondent look in Alec’s eyes. He remembers Alec reaching to his collar, exposing a chocker and a small silver necklace that led into his shirt. Magnus’s ring was probably on the smaller necklace; Magnus’s mind had supplied him, before Alec had told him that the chocker held poison.

“Seelie put him in a collar that paralyzes him whenever he leaves Manhattan, and at command,” Magnus explains. “They also have a telepath dig through his every last thought at irregular intervals.”

“That’s awful,” Clary says, disgust clear in her voice.

Isabelle’s slower to respond, biting her lips. “I didn’t know.”

“None of us did,” Magnus says, and that hurts more than anything else. Alec had been in pain for years while they’d all moved on with their lived, content to be angry with him. Alec still had Magnus’s engagement ring, and Magnus had left his and the idea of a life with Alec in ruins back at the Fray Institute. He wonders briefly if he’s likely to stop feeling guilty, but remembers he has an eternity. It might not be enough.

Isabelle pulls herself together. She’s always been good at putting on false fronts, of collecting every bit of herself she needs in this exact moment and composing herself into exactly what she wants to be. “What can we do to help?”

* * *

 

After they agree to help, Clary and Isabelle are quickly pulled into action. They’re not going to attack a multibillion-dollar company with military contracts without a plan, after all.

Magnus isn’t surprised to learn Alec knows the building well and has already catalogued many weak points. Alec has always been good at plots, after all, even when he wasn’t interested in being a part of them.

It goes this way for a couple of weeks. Clary will snatch Alec out of the subway or his apartment to Magnus’s, so he can’t be followed, and they’ll sit around the coffee table or sprawl all over the office while they discuss exactly how they’re going to do this.

A map of the subbasements, to the best of Alec’s knowledge, is tacked up on the corkboard wall. The locations of the mutants are starred, and so is the lab cooler that holds the antidote for the paralyzing agent in Alec’s collar.

Magnus is intent on studying the collar to try and get Alec out of it, but Alec waves him away. They’ll worry about it after they take down Seelie, because it’s more trouble than it’s worth if someone realizes Alec’s not wearing it or it’s broken.

They get a feel for the employee schedules, the daily grind for Seelie. Alec doesn’t seem to know a lot of people at work, especially those in the normal offices, but he does the best he can. It’s not like he can actively look, because he has to forget everything the moment he steps out of Magnus and Helen’s offices.

They do the best they can, and hope it’s enough.

A few days before they’re set to start their operation, and everyone’s ducked out early. Isabelle and Clary have gone to tuck Simon in for the night, and Helen’s out with a friend for the sake of normalcy.

Magnus doesn’t really realize that he’s alone with Alec until he’s finished his coffee and run out of questions to ask about the filing system at Seelie.

Alec seems to realize it at the same time, eyes slipping to meet Magnus’s from the far end of the couch.

“I can go,” Alec says, breaking eye contact. He’s gotten much more comfortable with Magnus in the past weeks, but they still haven’t sat down and talked like they need to.

“Don’t,” Magnus says. He clears his throat. “I would prefer if you didn’t, I mean.”

Alec looks relieved. “Thanks.”

It’s awkward. Of course it is. Alec has spent years hoping to be found, and Magnus has spent years not looking. It’s not really anybody’s fault ( _except yours_ , a voice in his head mutters in self-loathing), but circumstances have not been the best. Magnus wonders if Alec resents him. Turnabout is fair play, after all.

“So… what have you been up to?” Magnus asks, trying to alleviate tension.

“Magnus Bane, you can do better than that,” Alec scolds, cracking a fond smile. “Besides, you already got my life story. I know you’re a PI with Helen, and that’s it. Hardly seems balanced.”

Once, Magnus had a hard time letting go of secrets. He’d been how Alec was when he met him, but that’s not him anymore. Now he only laughs easily.

“Sounds fair. So it all started when I agreed to take on this huge project Jocelyn was planning. She didn’t like that we didn’t have a presence in the city, because there’s not a lot of help for mutant kids, and she thought we should start to move out from just the countryside, help get older kids get on their feet. Or just any mutant who needed help but maybe didn’t need the Fray Institute.”

“That sounds like something I could have used,” Alec says.

Magnus grins. “I think it’s helped a lot of people. When we first opened, some people were hesitant. But a lot of people were grateful.”

Magnus explains setting up the Safe House, the bumps and twists of his first few months. He explains Helen coming on part time in exchange for rent and a small salary, her coming to love the place. He describes the expansions, the triumphs, and some of the mistakes he’s made. There’s no shortage of them, as anyone who is responsible for another will tell you.

Magnus speaks fondly of some of this kids he’d seen grow up, of the donut shop in Maine flourishing partially because his hand in getting the owner on her feet. The ACLU had taken on some of their legal actions for mutant rights in New York. With a heavy voice he talks about the Demonic Murders, Alec going still as he explains the strange mutant bodies popping up all over the city. He tells Alec about switching into being a private eye with Helen, about handing off the Safe House to someone who hadn’t lost so many kids to the serial murder.

Alec nods at the right places, hums and touches Magnus’s arm. By the time Magnus’s throat is dry from the talking, Alec’s leaning against his chest, gently tracing Magnus’s knuckles.

The gesture is so, so intimate. It doesn’t startle Magnus at all. It feels like falling back into a dream when you’re not quite awake yet. It’s something he wants to keep, but doesn’t know if he can.

“Alec…” Magnus trails off.

“This is too much,” Alec says, his spine straightening. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed…”

“No, stay,” Magnus says softly, pulling Alec back to his chest. He can see Alec’s curious hazel eyes from this position.

“When you were kidnapped, we weren’t in a good place.”

Alec makes a hurt noise but doesn’t contest him.

“You had been shifty with me for weeks and I had no idea why. I know why, now, but I didn’t then. I know you don’t like talking about your ability, but it was clear you needed to. You can’t just bottle everything in. So when Simon died and you didn’t bring him back, it was like I didn’t even know you anymore.”

“If I could go back…” Alec says and then swallows.

Magnus takes a shaky breath. “I get it. I think I do, anyway. But I gave you an ultimatum to either figure yourself out or leave, and when you left, I assumed…”

“You assumed that I didn’t want to put in the work.”

“I assumed you didn’t love me anymore, Alec. And it hurt, but I didn’t look for you because I thought that leaving was your choice. All of your things were gone. You chose your secrets over me.

“It’s been a decade and a half. I’ve dated since, gotten pulled into so many great projects and people,” Magnus explains.

“I understand,” Alec says and his voice is a shudder.

“I don’t think you do,” Magnus says. “Because you’re crashing back into my life and I miss you. Alexander, I missed you. So, so much.”

“I missed you too,” Alec says.

“I feel guilty for not finding you,” Magnus breathes, his eyes closed. “I never even looked until Isabelle asked.”

“I didn’t think you would come looking,” Alec says. “They told me you wouldn’t, no one would, and the way we left things… I can’t say I’m not hurt, Magnus. It hurts to know that no one cared to look. It hurts to know that they were right.”

There’s a hole inside of Magnus that might never fill up. He was Alec’s number one and he dropped the ball badly. There’s a rift between them now that might never heal.

“How can you stand to look at me? At any of us?”

“Right now I’m just glad you found me. The rest will probably take a long time for us to sort out.” Alec relaxes against Magnus. His bulky necklace digs into Magnus’s shoulder.

A lump forms in Magnus’s throat. “You want us to sort it out? Together? After all of the…”

“Waiting?”

“Disappointment?” Magnus finishes.

“Look,” Alec says, and turns his body around so he’s chest to chest with Magnus. Alec is a solid presence in Magnus’s lap, his musky scent enveloping Magnus. “A lot has happened in the ELEPHANT years I’ve been gone, but I liked my life. I liked you, I liked helping run the Fray institute. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, but I want to do it with you.”

Magnus isn’t exactly sure how it happens, or who moves first. It’s probably him, because his hand is cupping Alec’s jaw and his soft cheek. Kissing Alec has always been like kissing a force of nature, and this time is no different. The kiss is every bit of longing Magnus has felt since Alec’s been gone, every hope he has that Alec will be a part of his life for a long time. It’s chaste, and Magnus pulls his mouth from Alec’s to push their foreheads together.

“I still love you.”

Magnus can see Alec’s smile.

“I love you, too.”

They stay like that for a minute, just soaking each other in.

“It’s too early, isn’t it?” Magnus asks.

“Probably,” Alec agrees.

Magnus kisses Alec again. He’s always been bad at falling back in with exes when perhaps he shouldn’t, anyway. He pulls away, and spends a second too long staring at Alec’s face. The familiar jawline, the burgeoning crow’s feet around his eyes, the scar in his eyebrow. This is Alec Lightwood, and he wasn’t Magnus’s first love but he was the most important. This is Alexander Lightwood, a man who’d agreed to accept his wedding ring and vows, something Magnus never thought he’d have. Alexander Lightwood, whom Magnus never wants to let go of again.

“I just needed one to hold me over,” Magnus’s voice cracks. He clears his throat and moves his hand from Alec’s cheek to his shoulder.

Alec gives a small smile. “Let me know when you need another one. To hold you. ”

“I promise,” Magnus says. This is a promise he won’t break.

Alec turns to lean back in Magnus’s arms, but Magnus’s mind is miles away. Alec has needed him, and he hasn’t been there for him. He still has a shot with Alec to resurrect the relationship that they had, but Magnus will need to be strong.

Magnus’s body is built of diamonds. He has always been physically strong, but what he’s undertaking will require perhaps more grit than he’s ever had to muster. It’ll be difficult, but he’ll do it. For every mutant Magnus has ever met, for every mutant he’ll never meet. What Seelie is doing is unacceptable, and they will be held accountable. Mutants like Alec, and all the other mutants controlled by Seelie deserve their freedom and they deserve to have their voices heard.

Magnus will take down Seelie like the rotten corporation that it is, an acute infection that floods the system and causes total shutdown. Him, Alec, Helen, Isabelle and Clary will demolish this corporate empire and show the world that it can’t mess with mutants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> It's been ages, and unfortunately, I'm really done with TMI. It's been 6 years and is definitely time to move on. I'm posting this chapter, which is complete, but not edited. I'll also be posting what I have of the next chapter and a summary of the plot (If I can find it). If you're interested, I write for All For The Game now. You can find me on tumblr at mr_im_fine or by my other psued here, the_king_is_dead.  
> I wish you all well!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what's left + summary of the future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y'all! So I never finished this chapter, and you're going to see that. Also, I hate it, so there's that.   
> It's about 2k, and after that is the plot synopses/plan that I had. You might like it, might not. There were only a couple chapters left anyway (it was going to be ~20k)

Isabelle’s heels click on the tile of the Seelie building as she and Magnus walk in like they own the place. They don’t, of course, but no one needs to know that as they smile their way up to the receptionist.

“Margaret Lee and Arthur Conway, Worthington Financial,” Isabelle says to the receptionist. “We’re here to audit the financial records of this fine establishment.”

The receptionist blinks. “Hold on a second,” he says.

He flicks through the calendar on his computer, and Magnus can see from his mind’s eye that him and Isabelle look nothing like the Margaret Lee and Arthur Conway scheduled to audit the company next week. He makes sure the receptionist doesn’t notice.

“You’re not due until next Tuesday,” says the receptionist.

Magnus leans against the counter, skimming the man’s mind. “I’d check your records again, Paul.”

“Yeah, Paul,” Isabelle says. Her fingers twitch, and Magnus doesn’t doubt she’s instilled an illusion on the electronic calendar. “Why don’t you check again?”

Paul does, a crease in his brow. “My bad,” he says, standing up. “I’ll just need your ID’s, for visitor passes.

“No problem,” Isabelle hands him two blank business cards.

Paul examines the cards, and finding nothing amiss, files them in a small alphabetically divided Tupperware container. He hands them badges, small plastic rectangles with alligator clips meant to attach to their breast pockets.

“Now, those should get you past security and up to the 17th floor, as well as to the staff room on the first and fifteenth floor. I don’t recommend wandering around. There is a biological safety lab up to level 3 on-site, so we don’t want you wandering into anything too dangerous.”

“I thought this was a technology company?” Magnus asks.

“Seelie has a large hold on the pharmaceutical industry as well,” Paul explains. “We were among the developers of the mutant detection serum, as well as several breakthrough vaccines in the past years.”

Magnus and Isabelle flinch, remembering the havoc wreaked by that serum. It had not been a good thing for the mutant community and forcefully outed a lot of human-passing mutants. Some of them hadn’t even known they had abilities before the genetic tests, too young to have manifested.

“Sounds fun,” Isabelle says stiffly. “We’ll just make our way up to the 17th floor, then?”

Paul nods. “I’ll call them and tell them you’re coming.”

“Thanks, dear,” Magnus says.

They step away from the counter, flaunting their business casual attire. They walk towards a set of metal detectors and suit-clad security.

At the request of the security officers, Magnus hands over his briefcase and Isabelle hands over her purse as they step through the metal detectors.

“Your finger, sir?” One of the guards asks.

Magnus looks at him, confused. His eyes dart down to the man’s hand, which holds a small device. He looks back up at the man.

“Isn’t that a little outdated?”

The guard shrugs. “It’s legal to check, and company policy.”

Magnus feels disgust roil in his body as he gives up his finger. The guard presses the device down on his flesh, and he feels a prick.

The device beeps, a red light flashing. Magnus feels a spark of panic before he reaches into the mind of the guard and forces him to turn the damn thing off. Next to him, Isabelle is neatly making the guard think he’s taken her blood when she remains cut-free.

“You’re good to go,” the guard smiles. “Not too bad, eh?”

Magnus grunts in response, and the guard turns her attention to the next newcomer.

“That’s barbaric,” Magnus says to Isabelle once they’re out of earshot from the security guard.

“It’s better than it used to be, but still pretty shit,” Isabelle agrees. “At least they can’t stop mutants from entering anymore.”

“No, they can only _register_ us,” Magnus spits.

“It’s not much better,” Isabelle admits. “Still. We knew what we were getting into.”

“And they call this one of the most progressive cities on Earth,” Magnus scoffs.

Isabelle chuckles. “Careful. We’re in the lion’s den now. You’d better adapt or you’re not going to survive.”

They catch the next elevator to the 17th floor, and their work can finally begin.

 

Magnus drops an alligator folder on the conference table, where it ruffles other packets of paper. He collapses in the chair behind the pile of papers and groans.

“There are so many financial records.”

“And they don’t even have them all together because we’re a week early,” Isabelle says. It’s true; outside the conference room, the floor manager is hastily rousing workers to get together as many reports as they can. He looks a little harried. The man’s ponytail had become noticeably less effective at holding his hair back from his face after they had waltzed onto the floor and announced they were starting the auditing process a that day. “This could be worse.”

“I didn’t know you were a glass half full kind of girl,” Magnus says.

“I’m not,” Isabelle frowns. “But I used to be.”

They sort through the files in silence for a few minutes, but Magnus’ attention is split between skimming the minds of the nearby employees and evaluating financial information. He almost misses Isabelle when she speaks.

“Do you think I should apologize to Alec?”

Magnus stops skimming the minds of nearby workers. “Do you think you should apologize to Alec?”

Isabelle bites her lip. “Yeah. I do. I’m just… I’ve been hurt by this for so long, you know? And I’m trying to reconcile how wrong I was. I didn’t know anything about what was going on with him, but a lot of that was on him.”

“He’s always been tight-lipped about his ability,” Magnus concedes. “He’s got a lot of trauma relating to it, so it makes sense. He should have told you what was happening, but the rest… I don’t know, Isabelle. Expecting him to bring back Simon was a bit presumptuous, but you’re family.”

Isabelle rubs a hand over her temple. Magnus suspects she would like to press the palm of her hand into her eye socket but can’t risk smearing her makeup. He’s definitely been there.

“I’m going to apologize,” Isabelle says. “I just don’t know how much of it is my fault.”

“Technically, none of it,” Magnus says. It’s the same thing he’s been saying to himself, but he’s having trouble believing it. “You didn’t kidnap him. The only thing you actually have to apologize to him for are your words when Simon died. They were pretty harsh.”

Isabelle mulls that over for a while. Magnus is immersed in another report when she speaks again.

“Do you think he’ll forgive me?”

Magnus gives her a small smile. “He’s always forgiven you.”

Isabelle nods and heaves a sigh. They go back to their work.

The financials of Seelie seem to be flawless. They could be running their entire mutant-kidnapping scheme off-book, but with the scope of the company it’s unlikely.

“Hold on,” Isabelle says. “When we were in the elevator, there were 23 floors and four subbasements—“ Magnus nods “—so why is there only 1 subbasement listed in the building plans?”

“That must be where they do all of their illegal business,” Magnus says. “We finally have proof that something’s up.”

“Yeah,” Isabelle says. “Now we’ve just got to prove that there are enough discrepancies to get the building fully investigated.”

Magnus nods. “We’ve got to get into those subbasements.”

“How? Our keycards only allow access to certain floors.”

Magnus nods, and presses two fingers to his temple. “I’ve got it. Can you stay here and keep up an illusion that I’m still working here?”

“This is going to be dangerous, Magnus. I should come with.” Isabelle frowns.

“I’ll stay in contact,” Magnus says, tapping his head. “Besides, you have your son to think about. It’ll be easier for you to get out when mutants do not surround you, and we need the cover. They can’t be getting suspicious too early. Besides,” there’s a knock on the door. “I won’t be alone.”

* * *

 

Alec and Magnus make their way down the elevator together. Magnus makes himself invisible to others, but the cameras are still a problem. Luckily, Helen and Clary have given him the green light. They’ve looped the image for the next couple of minutes.

Alec swipes his keycard and presses -4 on the elevator control pad.

“I know they keep the anti-toxin in the final subbasement,” Alec says, gesturing towards the metal band circling his neck. “We need to get that first. I’ll be a lot more helpful in a fight if I can’t be incapacitated with the press of a button.”

Magnus feels a roll of disgust. The collar itself is a disgusting sign of ownership. The paralytic venom inside it, ready to be released into Alec’s system, is just another horrible breach of Alec’s autonomy.

“We’ll get that thing off of you,” Magnus says.

Alec shoots him a small smile. “I trust you.”

Magnus wonders if Alec should trust him, but it isn’t the time to contradict Alec. They’re going to do this, together, and when it’s all over who knows where the chips will land. The night he spent with Alec, whatever it is they’re rebuilding, is going to have its difficulties. That ache Magnus has when he thinks of Alec has never really gone away, not even with Alec in front of him.

Maybe he just misses the past. Maybe Alec doesn’t love him anymore. Maybe he won’t love this new Alec anymore.

The very thought feels ridiculous.

The elevator bings and the doors slide open. Magnus snaps out of his thoughts and follows Alec into the subbasement.

Now, Magnus didn’t really know what to expect. Alec had told him the basic layout, but what he’d been imagining is both better and worse. He’d been imagining dimly lit hallways and prison bars, not a bright, sterile hallway leading to occupied offices and conference rooms.

As they pass, the rooms get more unnerving. Magnus sees a couple of surgery rooms, rooms with what look like dentists’ chairs with added shackles, and glass bedrooms. Some of the beds are occupied, some aren’t.

A woman in scrubs bustles around outside one of the rooms, pulling bandages from her cart. Her silver hair is pulled back into a braid, and she has a no-nonsense look about her. Magnus shields himself from her.

“Alec,” she says as she unrolls a pack of gauze. She has the same collar on as Alec. “What are you doing down here? I thought you were on guard duty today.”

Alec shrugs. “Meliorn wanted me to check on the patents. He just wanted me to make sure none of them were slipping.”

“Ah,” the woman sighs. “You’d better get to it, then. They seemed fine on my last check but the only one who really knows is you.”

Alec gives her a tight-lipped smile. “Thank you, Greta.”

She smiles back at him and returns to her work.

“The patents?” Magnus asks as they walk.

“The mutants they use to power their technology,” Alec explains. “A mutant search engine, a mutant used to make bombs at will, teleportation… Almost every innovative creation from Seelie in the last 10 years is due to hijacking a mutant’s ability.”

“That’s…”

“Yeah.”

* * *

 

wow so actually looking at it I did NOT follow this very closely at all lmao

No Deadline Plot

  * Isabelle comes to Magnus for help finding her brother (there’s something wrong—she isn’t aging. Neither is Magnus, when she mentions it).



 

  * Helen and Magnus pool their resources to find Alec, working for Seelie tech. Helen infiltrates the company to find out when Alec’ll be working.



 

  * Magnus and Isabelle confront Alec after a shift one day. He looks alarmed, and flees.



 

  * Suspicious, Magnus/Iz/Helen look into Seelie Tech. They discover that it’s where Alec&Jonathan used to rescue mutants from.



 

  * They get Clary to kidnap a panicked Alec as he goes to work.



 

  * Alec tells them he can’t be late or he’ll be screwed, and that they cannot communicate audibly. He’s bugged.



 

  * Alec goes to work, and Clary picks him up after his shift. Isabelle feels awful for shunning Alec, and tiptoes around her brother. Alec explains where he’s been, and soon after, Isabelle gets a call from Clary saying there’s an emergency at the Fray Institute (a kid is looking for her or something). She picks up her wife, leaving Magnus and Alec alone.



 

  * M&A talk, and at first it’s awful. Alec doesn’t want to talk about his feelings and Magnus just wants to help. They start to catch up with each other, and Alec ends up spending the night with Magnus (sleeping). Before Clary comes to get him in the morning, Magnus kisses him.



 

  * Magnus asks Helen to take a look at Alec’s necklace, and she disables the toxin in his system but keeps the microphone/internet tracking intact as to not arouse suspicion.



 

  * Alec sneaks Isabelle and Helen into Seelie tech (Isabelle to cloak them) and gather enough data to start a court case. They send the information anonymously to the police.M/A/H/C/I go out to eat at a fancy restaurant, where they were tipped off the CEO of Seelie would be arrested. They watch her go out in handcuffs, and Alec offers to make Clary immortal. Clary says she’ll think about it.




End file.
